Fastener device

ABSTRACT

A fastener device for fastening papers or the like to a backing member including a strip or prong member having a central portion and bendable prong end portions on which papers are to be impaled and an overlay member for fixing the strip member to the backing member. The overlay member has an intermediate portion adapted to overlie the central portion of the strip member and also has end portions having a pair of apertures through which the prong end portions extend. The overlay member has adhesive on its lower surface to bond it to the central portion of the strip member to thereby retain it in position so that it will not become misaligned in handling prior to the time that the overlay member is adhesively secured to the backing member. The fastener devices are fabricated on a web and coiled into a roll from which single fastener devices are adapted to be severed incidental to the process of securing each fastener device to a backing member.

D United States Patent 1 [111 3,741,385

Corey June 26, 1973 FASTENER DEVICE Primary Examiner-Leonard Summer 75 Inventor: Joseph T. Corey, Williamsville, NY. mamey-hseph Game [73] Assignee: Perrnclip Products Corporation, 57 ABSTRACT Buffalo A fastener device for fastening papers or the like to a [22] Filed; Feb. 10, 1972 backing member including a strip or prong member having a central portion and bendable prong end por- [21] Appl' 225207 tions on which papers are to be impaled and an overlay Related US. A pli ati D t member for fixing the strip member to the backing [63] continuatiomimpm of sen No' 22519 March 25 member. The overlay member has an intermediate porl970, Pat 3,644,632 tion adapted to overlie the central portion of the strip member and also has end portions having a pair of ap- 52 u.s. Cl. 206/56 AB, 24/153 BP erwres through which the p m; end Portions extend- [51] Int. Cl 865d 69/00, 1342f 3/00 The Overlay member has adhesive on its lower Surface [58] Field of Search 206/56 AB, 56 DF; to bond it to the Central Portion of the strip member to 24/1533]: thereby retain it in position so that it will not become misaligned in handling prior to the time that the overlay 5 References Cited member is adhesively secured to the backing member. UNITED STATES PATENTS The fastener devices are fabricated on a web and coiled into a roll from which single fastener devices are 2 g f adapted tobe severed incidental to the process of se- 3271829 951966 i 24/453 BF x curing each fastener device to a backing member.

12 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures FASTENER DEVICE The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 22,519, filed Mar. 25, 1970 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,632 issued Feb. 15, 1972.

The present invention relates to fastener devices for holding papers or the like on a backing member and more particularly to an improvement in fastener devices of the general type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,271,829 in which an overlay member mounts a paper impaling prong member on a file folder or the like.

By way of background, there is a type of fastener device known in the art which includes an overlay member which secures a prong member to a file folder. The prong member includes a central portion which is held against the backing member by the overlay member. Two end prong portions extend outwardly away from the overlay member for receiving papers and holding such papers in position on the backing member after the prongs have been bent downwardly. In the past, an overlay member and a prong member were separate from each other until they were secured in position on the file holder. This required time and effort or expensive machinery for aligning the prong member and the overlay member incidental to securing them to the file folder. I

By way of further background, there was no entirely satisfactory way of attaching fastener devices of the present type to file folders by relatively small stationers. In this respect, the prong and overlay parts of the prior fastener devices had to be assembled at the time they were attached to the filefolder, as noted above. Thistherefore required highly specialized machinery or considerable hand work, neither'of which were suitable for small stationers. The foregoing factors effectively kept small stationers out of the market of manufacturing file folders with attached fastener devices of the type under consideration here. It is with overcoming the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is concerned.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide an improved fastener device which includes an overlay member having apertures to receive the end prong portions of the strip member and also adhe'sively secure the central portion of the prong member to the overlay member so as to positionally locate the latter relative to the overlay member both before and after the overlay member is fixed to the backing member. This arrangement permits storage and handling of the fastener device as a unit, and makes for accurate trouble free mounting of the fastener on the backing member.

Another object of the fastener device according to the present invention is to position the prong end receiving apertures on an off-center line extending lengthwise of the overlay member, such that there is a substantially larger bonding area on one side of such line than the other. When fixing the overlay member on the backing member, the larger bonding area will underlie the main portion of the impaled sheets and effectively resist the separating forces exerted on the overlay member under severe conditions, as for instance, when all of the impaled sheets are simultaneously folded back over the fastener or the backing member is lifted by grasping the sheets.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a continuous web containing thousands of fastener devices, the web being formed into a roll for relative ease of handling and shipping to diverse locations for subsequent use by small stationers in attaching such fastener devices to file holders or the like by the use of relatively simple machinery.

Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will appear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a file folder and shows in exploded relationship the parts 0 the novel fastener device;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the novel fastener device with the fastener device applied to a leaf of the folder of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention showing an individual fastener device in solid lines and adjacent fastener devices on the same web in phantom lines;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the individual fastener device taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the individual fastenerdevice taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a reduced perspective view of the web of fasteners of the present invention coiled into a roll; and

FIG. 7 is an alternate embodiment -of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing, a novel fastener device made according to the present invention is generally designated as 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2. A backing member, upon which fastener 10 is adapted to be mounted, is generally designated as 11 and shown in FIG. 1 as being in the form of a conventional file folder having leaves 12 and 13 adapted to be folded over along a fold line 14. It will be understood, however, that fastener device 10 is readily adaptable for use with any backing mem ber to which papers or the like are to be attached in stacked relationship.

Fastener device 10 includes an elongated strip member 16 and an elongated overlay member 18, which serves to maintain strip member 16 fixed in a selected position on backing member 11, such as adjacent the upper 'marginal edge of leaf 12. Strip member 16, which will be hereinafter referred to as having an intermediate or central portion 19 and pair of bendable prong or end portions 20 and 21, may be formed of any suitable material, such as metal.

Overlay member 18 may be formed from any suitable material, such as a paper stock base 22 optionally hav ing laminated to the outer surface thereof a plastic film, cloth fabric or other material 23, which serves to provide for increased strengths and a desired appearance. The inner or bottom surface of overlay member 18 may be bonded to leaf 12 by suitable means, such as by a pressure sensitive adhesive carried on base 22. Preferably, however, a hot melt adhesive is coated on the entire undersurface of base 22. A hot melt adhesive is one which softens to produce bonding when subjected to heat, but at normal ambient temperatures is completely congealed.

Again referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that overlay member 18 is of a generally rectangular configuration having lengthwise extending edges 26, 27, which define the relatively upper and lower edges of member 18 when the latter is fixed to leaf l2. Overlay strip 16 along a straight line path lengthwise of member 18 through apertures 32,33. Alternatively, strip 16 may be bowed into a generally U-shaped configuration and the prongs 20, 21 simultaneously passed through the apertures. After strip 16 is in properalignment with overlay member 18, suitable heat and pressure are applied to the central portion of member 18 overlying the central portion 19 of prong member 16 to thereby bond said strip 16 and member 18 together by activating the hot melt adhesive. In addition strip 16 is frictionally retained by apertures 32 and 33 in assembled condition so as to facilitate handling of the fastener as a unit. I

Apertures 32, 33 facilitate accurate positioning of prongs 20, 21 relative to leaf l2 and cooperate to restrain strip 16 from being pulled from under intermediate portion 28 in the event that no adhesive is applied to that portion of base 22 immediately above and in engagement with the strip member. Normally, however, adhesive would be applied to the entire lower surface of base 22, as noted above.

In accordance with the arrangement thus far described, prongs and 21 are adapted to be bent upwardly at substantial right angles to leaf 12 so as to permit papers, not shown, to be impaled thereon. Prongs 20 and 21 are then bent back down against the surface of the papers to secure them to leaf 12. The above procedure is repeated as required to remove or add papers to fastener 10.

An alternative embodiment of the fastener of the present invention is shown in FIG..7. In reference to FIG. 7 it will be noted that a particular feature involves positioning of the apertures such that they are bisected by a line 40', which is generally parallel to upper'and lower edges 26,27 and spaced from lower edge 27 a distance greater than about one-half and preferably approximately equal to two-thirds of the width of overlay member 18. Thus, the largest area of member 18 bonded to leaf 12 will underlie the main portion of the impaled paper. This permits member 18 to more effectively resist the separating forces exerted thereon under severe conditions, such as when a large member of impaled papers aresimultaneously folded back over the fastener or when the backing member is lifted by grasping the papers.

Again referring to FIG. 7, it will be understood that the end portions of member 18 are, as shown only in the case of portion 30, provided with slits 42, which extend from their associated apertures generally parallel to edges 26, 27 and serve to define pairs of relatively movable tabs 44a,44b. Assembly of members 16 and 18 is effected by moving tabs 44a, 44b relative to one another, so as to facilitate entry of the prongs through slits 42 into their receiving apertures. Subsequently, tabs 44a, 44b will return to their nondeformed, or coplanar condition, wherein they cooperate with intermediate portion 28 to retain member 16.

Preferably, the entire lower surfaces of tabs 44a, 44b

' are bonded to leaf 12, such that there is substantially no weakening of member 18 due to the presence of slits 42'. It will be understood of course that the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be modified by incorporating therein one or more of the other of th features discussed with reference to FIG. 7.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 3-6. In the embodiment of FIGS. 3-6, the overlay member 40 of each fastener device 39 is fabricated from a suitable material having a thickness which is preferably between 0.008 and 0.014 inches.

The material may be non-woven fabric consisting of a mixture of pulp, polyester, and miscellaneous fibers, or it can be Kraft paper laminated to polyesterfilm or similar plastic, or it can be any other suitable type of material which has a sufficiently high tear strength. Round apertures 41 and 42 are provided in overlay 40, and the undersurface 43 had a coating hot melt adhesive 43' thereon. As noted above, this adhesive is normally nonsticking at room temperatures but will produce its adhesive qualities when subjected to heat. The central portion 44 of metal prong member 45 islocated behind the central portion 46 of overlay 40, it having been placed in this position by threading member 45 through apertures 41 and 42 in the manner described above relative to FIGS. 1 and 2. Thereafter heat and pressure is applied to central portion 46 to' activate or melt the adhesive 43' on undersurface 43 and bond central portion 44 of prong member 45 to the undersurface of overlay 40. The prongs 47 and 48 will lie on the outside of the uppersurface 49 of overlay 40. As noted above, the areas surrounding apertures 41 and 42'will aid in holding prong member 45 against movement.

It is to be noted that an overlay member 40 includes 7 taper outwardly away from the central portion of overlay member 40 to provide an extremely neat installation after said overlay member 40 is bonded to a backing member such as 12. Furthermore, the centerline of prong member 45 is higher than the horizontal centerline of overlay member 40 so as to cause the embodiment of FIGS. 3-6 to exhibit the same advantages as discussed relative to FIG. 7 in this respect. The inclined edges such as 52, 53, 56 and 57 merge with their respective end edges 54 and at rounded corners 66,

which are commercially desirable because they are less susceptible to being snagged by foreign objects than corners which are sharp.

Overlay members 40 are fabricated on a continuous web of material 60 which is subsequently coiled'into a roll which may contain in excess of one thousand and as many as three thousand overlay members 40 con nected to each. other at junctions 61. Each overlay member 40 is subsequently slit or severed from web 60 at junctions 61 preparatory to the process of applying the overlays to items such as backing member 12. It is which moves transversely across the web, from side to side, the cutting is more accurate than if spaces 63 were not present considering that the edges at which cutting starts and terminates are at 64 and 65 which are spaced considerably inwardly from outer edges 54 and 55. The reason the cutting is more precise is because at the inward portions 64 and 65 there is relatively little flexibility of the connected overlay members because of the support provided by the central portions 44 of adjacent prong members 45 which are bonded to the central portions 46 of adjacent overlay members 40. Stated another way, if the cutting of the adjacent overlay members 40 from each other were started at lines which were located outwardly as much as edges 54 and 55, which would be the case if diverging spaces 63 were not present, the connected edges of overlay members 40 could flex more than they would at edges 64 and 65 with the attendant possibility that the slits between adjacent lines 61 would not be as straight as desired. The spaces 63 are created by suitable die cutting.

It will be appreciated that spaces 63 may be of any desired size and need not be as large as shown in FIG. 3, but with smaller spaces there will be more flexibility in the edge portions of the overlay members prior to their being severed. However, it will be appreciated that wherever there is an indentation or a space such as 63 which defines rounded corners such as 66, each overlay member 40 will have rounded corners such as 66 after having been severed by a straight slit along line 61 from an adjacent overlay member 40. This would be impossible if spaces such as 63 and rounded corners 66 were not provided because in such a case the cutting along a straight line 61 throughout the entire width of 'the web 60 would cause the corners of each overlay member to be sharp rather than rounded as at 66, as shown.

It is also to be noted that edges 64 and 65 have a dimension 68 which extends lengthwise of web 60. While the slitting is preferably made exactly along each line 61, the fact that an axial distance 68 existsprovides a certain amount of leeway during-the slitting in the event of slight misalignments of the web 60 in the machine which produces the slitting. In the foregoing respect, edges 64 and 65 contain relatively straight central portions at 69 and 70, respectively, and rounded portions (not numbered) where relatively straight portions 69 and 70 merge with edge portions 52-56 and 53-57, respectively. Thus even if the slitting is effected slightly to either side of line 21, if it falls within central portions 69 and 70, the resulting product will be satisfactory. Thus spaces 63 serve a dual function, namely, they facilitate the accuracy of the slitting, and because spaces 63 produce rounded edges 66, the slitting with a straight stroke along a line 21 produces individual overlay members with rounded corners 66 and from the web 60.

As can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 6, the areas surrounding apertures 41 and 42 are continuous as in FIGS. 1 and 2, and not slitted as in FIG. 7. If desired, slits such as 42' of FIG. 7 may be incorporated into the embodiments of FIGS. 1-6, if this is deemed desirable to facilitate the assembling of the prong memberand overlay member.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous web of fastener devices comprising an elongated web, a plurality of fastener devices on said web, each fastener device comprising an overlay member having first and second edges on opposite sides thereof and also having an upper surface and an undersurface and a central overlay portion located between spaced overlay end portions, spaced apertures in said overlay end portions, an elongated prong member extending through said spaced apertures and having a central portion located in contiguous relationship to said undersurface at said central overlay portion, said elongated prong member also having spaced prong end portions at opposite ends of said central prong portion located in contiguous relationship to said upper surface at said overlay end portions, means on said undersurface for bonding said central prong .portion to said overlay member, and a first edge of a first overlay member being secured relative to a second edge of an adjacent second overlay member.

2. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 1 wherein said web includes opposite side edges and wherein said prong members extend transversely to said web with said prong end portions extending outwardly beyond said opposite side edges.

3. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first edge comprises an upper edge of said first overlay member and said second edge comprises a lower edge of said second overlay member.

4. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 3 wherein said 'upper and lower edges are secured to each other along a common junction.

5. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 4 including first and second spaces extending inwardly from said opposite side edges of said web which terminate at said common junction.

6. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first and second spaces define rounded corners on said first and second overlay members.

7. A continuous web of-fastener devices as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first and second spaces diverge outwardly from said common junction toward said opposite side edges of said web. v

8. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first and second spaces terminate at third and fourth edges, respectively, defining the ends of said common junction.

9. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim .8 wherein said third and fourth edges each include a portion extending lengthwise of said.web.

10. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 9 wherein said first and second spaces diverge outwardly from said third and fourth edges, respectively.

l l. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 10 wherein said first and second spaces define rounded corners on said first and second overlay members.

12. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 5 wherein said adhesive comprises hot melt adhesive. 

1. A continuous web of fastener devices comprising an elongated web, a plurality of fastener devices on said web, each fastener device comprising an overlay member having first and second edges on opposite sides thereof and also having an upper surface and an undersurface and a central overlay portion located between spaced overlay end portions, spaced apertures in said overlay end portions, an elongated prong member extending through said spaced apertures and having a central portion located in contiguous relationship to said undersurface at said central overlay portion, said elongated prong member also having spaced prong end portions at opposite ends of said central prong portion located in contiguous relationship to said upper surface at said overlay end portions, means on said undersurface for bonding said central prong portion to said overlay member, and a first edge of a first overlay member being secured relative to a second edge of an adjacent second overlay member.
 2. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 1 wherein said web includes opposite side edges and wherein said prong members extend transversely to said web with said prong end portions extending outwardly beyond said opposite side edges.
 3. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first edge comprises an upper edge of said first overlay member and said seconD edge comprises a lower edge of said second overlay member.
 4. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 3 wherein said upper and lower edges are secured to each other along a common junction.
 5. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 4 including first and second spaces extending inwardly from said opposite side edges of said web which terminate at said common junction.
 6. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first and second spaces define rounded corners on said first and second overlay members.
 7. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first and second spaces diverge outwardly from said common junction toward said opposite side edges of said web.
 8. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first and second spaces terminate at third and fourth edges, respectively, defining the ends of said common junction.
 9. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 8 wherein said third and fourth edges each include a portion extending lengthwise of said web.
 10. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 9 wherein said first and second spaces diverge outwardly from said third and fourth edges, respectively.
 11. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 10 wherein said first and second spaces define rounded corners on said first and second overlay members.
 12. A continuous web of fastener devices as set forth in claim 5 wherein said adhesive comprises hot melt adhesive. 